I currently run a Voxelab Aquila I got for $120 three years ago. It largely replaced a Monoprice Mini, and the Aquila’s done some surprisingly good work for me, but I may look for something new to put on the ol’ birthday list. I would like a flat bed and some modern QoL improvements built in (he said, side-eyeing the BLTouch clone he never installed), but I’m still looking to play in the shallow-end, price-wise, and anyway Bambu just has “future enshittification” written all over it. I don’t do anything time-sensitive, and I’m not afraid to put the whole thing together, so who are the current leaders in the value space? Recent machines from Creality?
I run a repair shop, and the Elegoo Neptune 4 is actually quite nice. The hot end is way easier to repair than the 3 and it’s quite fast as well. Seconding this one. Downside is that they use a custom-length nozzle. But everyone seems to be doing that now.
The Sovol line of printers is good too, especially the SV-08 - It brings the voron into the world where it’s not just a trophy printer that proves you can handle the worst of things.
I was thinking the Neptune 4 plus looked pretty good. If I can get my print capacity to 300mm in X and Y, options for my other hobbies (keyboard building in particular) open up. Then, I’ve never really tried TPU, so direct drive also seems nice.